First day post weekend 1 - staying awake is difficult, even after 9 hours of sleep. We talk about this every year, but going from Encampment ops tempo to "regular" just doesn't do the body good.

It's been said before that at activities like this (especially week or two week long ones), the highest risk activity is going home.

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The moment any commander or staff member considers themselves a gatekeeper, instead of a facilitator, they have failed at their job.I can't fix all of CAP's problems, but I can lead from the bottom by building my squadron as a center of excellence to serve as an example of what every unit can be.

Completely out of gas walking in the door about 7. Food had been stuffed quickly on way home. Had to help M-i-L with internet being down (presume that is what she wanted, kinda fuzzy). Hit the couch straight out until dawn...

First day post weekend 1 - staying awake is difficult, even after 9 hours of sleep. We talk about this every year, but going from Encampment ops tempo to "regular" just doesn't do the body good.

It's been said before that at activities like this (especially week or two week long ones), the highest risk activity is going home.

Yep. Yep twice. From personal experience, even when you have in place what you think are adequate controls to make sure that all hands get enough crew rest, you don't.

From the NHTSA: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year. This results in an estimated 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses. These figures may be the tip of the iceberg, since currently it is difficult to attribute crashes to sleepiness.

It's no joke - CAP has thousands of seniors and cadets every year who roll home at 5pm on a Saturday or Sunday after a full week / full day for multi-state drives home.

I frankly don't know how they do it. I know not everyone is as susceptible to highway hypnosis as I am, but tired is tired, regardless.

A number of times I've made it as far as the Lake Forest Oasis and had to stop for a nap - one year waking up to find myself with a dead battery, ripped uniform pants, and a 3/4 drained jump pack that had been used to power a CAP VHF all weekend (thanks ICENINE, wherever you are). The Lords of Kobol shined upon me and the truck started after a few weak cranks, but it was still memorable finding a way to get into the oasis without embarrassing myself or CAP.

It's something that seems to be left on the table in between the lines of "not responsible for transportation to and from activities", and I can assure you, whether it's an encampment, NCSA, or NESA, every commander, regardless of faith, says a little prayer every yearas the troops roll home.

Having completed a busy week of activities, participants may be more fatigued than they realize. Senior staff must ensure that participants are sufficiently well rested for the drive home (particularly if driving solo) before releasing them from encampment. A suggested best practice is for the safety officer to personally check the sleep plan of each participant-driver the day prior to and the morning of departure.

Encampment C/CC reviews his line staff in anticipation of the announcement of Honor Flight.

Wk 2 - some swimming, some learning, and lots of smiles on the way out.ICAs showed marked improvement across the board, which makes the effort worthwhile as far as I am concerned.

Two of the line staff are headed for the USAFA this summer. CAP's loss, the country's significant gain.

I took some long looks around the place (you never know which year will be your last). I didn't do much this year but mentor and push things in the right general direction - that's #14 for me. The FNGs are doing a good job, so who knows what 2018 will have in store.

I went to the IL spring encampment as a cadet, and I had a great time. The staff and cadet staff was excellent and I think it was great expirence overall. My favorite part was listing to (I can't remember their names) but an Air Force major and CAP captain talk about her pilot expirence and his expirence as a CPD helicopter pilot. In addition in between the weekends my canteen cracked and when I came back Major Rash (forgive me if I mispelled his name) was kind enough to actually give me a canteen. I even got one of those little challenge coins from Major Pehm because he appreciated that someone from Kentucky came to the encampment. I didn't realize eclipse was their or I would have thanked him for answering my CAPtalk questions. Again great encampment, anyone who is still undecided go to the spring encampment, it's great

I went to the IL spring encampment as a cadet, and I had a great time. The staff and cadet staff was excellent and I think it was great expirence overall. My favorite part was listing to (I can't remember their names) but an Air Force major and CAP captain talk about her pilot expirence and his expirence as a CPD helicopter pilot. In addition in between the weekends my canteen cracked and when I came back Major Rash (forgive me if I mispelled his name) was kind enough to actually give me a canteen. I even got one of those little challenge coins from Major Pehm because he appreciated that someone from Kentucky came to the encampment. I didn't realize eclipse was their or I would have thanked him for answering my CAPtalk questions. Again great encampment, anyone who is still undecided go to the spring encampment, it's great

Glad you had a good time. There are quite a few staff members for ILWG Spring here.